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Top 5 Things I Wish Expectant Moms Knew.

Pregnancy is a beautiful thing. It’s a time of joy. Excitement. Aches. Pains. Everyone and their mama giving you advice about your pregnancy and stories about how great or not so great theirs was.

In retrospect, what about being pregnant do you wish you had known? Click here and let me know. Being the obgyn that I am, as I waited for a soon to be mom to push her baby girl into the world, here is what I came up with.

Top 5 Things I Wish Expectant Moms Knew:

EVERY pregnancy is different. No matter how easy or difficult previous pregnancies have been for you, your current pregnancy is NOT your previous pregnancy. I get this all the time….”I didn’t have this with my first pregnancy,” or, “the baby never did this in my previous pregnancy,” or, since this is my second pregnancy, will my labor be shorter? My response to these, and all the other comparative queries/statements regarding said pregnancy is this; go with the flow. Every pregnancy is different. Everything from how you feel, to baby’s activity level, to your actual labor and delivery.

Labor is a process. There is latent labor. There is active labor. There are stages of labor. Whoever knew there was so much involved in labor?!?!? My point exactly! The first stage of labor involves uterine contractions that cause your cervix to change; latent labor is when this is sort of slowly moving along. Active labor is when you reach about 6cm or so and things are moving along at a much faster pace. The second stage of labor involves going from completely dilated(10cm) to delivering baby. The second stage of labor is where you are going to put in some work. The third stage of labor begins after the baby is born and ends once you deliver your placenta. This is probably one of the BIGGIES on this list. Everyone seems to think babies just fall out. While occasionally they do, there is a lot more to the process than meets the eye.

Inductions can take time. I’ve seen inductions take anywhere from a few hours to days! There is a lot that goes into attempting to determine how long your induction will take. Things like, how far along in the pregnancy you are; i.e., how many weeks you are(a pre-term cervix typically isn’t as easy to induce as a full term cervix). Is your cervix “favorable” to begin with? If not, you can count on some sort of cervical ripening agent. This in and of itself can take days…favorability refers to a cervixes position, dilation, effacement, consistency. Remember, the goal of induction and having a favorable cervix is to increase the odds of your having a vaginal delivery.

I have no idea what time baby is going to arrive. If I did, I’d make more plans when on-call(LOL!!!). Seriously, labor is a process. When you deliver is largely up to YOU and how long it takes YOU to push the baby out. I’ve seen women push for minutes to hours. Just remember; don’t get discouraged. You were made for this!

Birth Plans. It’s your thang. Do what’cha wanna do(In my best Ron Isley voice)! If you want a plan, have a plan. If you are more of a “go with the flow” kinda girl, be THAT girl. Labor, delivery, life in general, ALL unpredictable at best. Regardless of your decision, remember, a girl’s ALWAYS allowed to change her mind.

Wife, mother, Midwesterner, and award-winning OB/GYN, Dr. Angela is equal parts best girlfriend and bold professional, supporting women’s health with innovative approaches to care and heavy doses of humor. Dr. Angela has done more than launch a successful practice, she has defined herself as a voice for a new generation of womanhood, established her ASK DR. ANGELA brand committed to authenticity, and built a community rooted in trust, candor, and compassion.

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